When I met Big Daddy, I was a tither (tithe-er? tithe-ing-er? You know what I mean....Ha!) Big Daddy likes to tell the story of the first time he saw my 'budget' on my fridge and was shocked to see that I, a church employee, had my tithe written down first. Big Daddy introduced me to his ideas on tithes and alms (to him, you gave 10% at minimum to the church and anything you gave to another organization was 'alms' :-) And so we began our marriage with that mindset. We'd tithe, but we'd also support other organizations as much as we could.
Of course, if you know us, you know that always dear to our hearts is:
Habitat for Humanity
Big Daddy worked for Habitat for the first year of our marriage. Big Daddy was fortunate enough to spend time with Millard Fuller in Americus, Georgia and his "Theology of the Hammer" and belief that every person deserves "a simple, decent place to live" helped shape Big Daddy's heart in many ways. We loved our time with Habitat and one day I can totally see us buying an RV and joining the ranks of the 'Blitz Builders,' traveling around the country helping with one Blitz Build after another.
(Big Daddy in the 'office' - that's what his volunteers jokingly called the port o potty when he was on the jobsite. :-)
Compassion International
Compassion International is another organization that was a part of our early marriage. When Big Daddy and I met, I sponsored Akhil in India
I was lucky enough to be Akhil's sponsor for more than 11 years. (Look how much he grew!) I treasure every one of our letters and was both sad and elated when he graduated from Compassion's program just over a year ago.
Big Daddy, of course, has always had a heart for Haiti, so he began sponsoring a little girl, Stephany, from Haiti a few years ago. We love everything about Compassion - how transparent they are with their finances and how they work so closely with their sponsors. After the earthquake in Haiti, they were quick -under the circumstances- to notify us that Stephany was safe and well.
Now our Compassion family tradition continues....... JR now uses his allowance to sponsor Sonavai in Togo, Africa. JR chose Sonavai because they are the same age and one of his best friend's parents spent many years in Togo as missionaries. He is so excited about the possibility of meeting Sonavai one day. He talks about it all. the. time. :-) But I've told him, I'm not quite ready for him to set out for Africa all alone yet. Ha!
Food for the Poor
Finally, I can't forget to mention the organization that is so much a part of our lives right now. Food for the Poor is the non profit that Big Daddy has partnered with to build the houses in Haiti. For every home he builds here in the US, he is donating to build a house in Haiti. His trip to La Hatte, Haiti the first week of June to see the neighborhood they have built there with those donations was amazing and life changing for him. Even though it was his second trip to Haiti, he still said it left him forever changed.
Just like Compassion, Big Daddy and I are so impressed with how transparent Food for the Poor is with their finances. We have complete assurance that the money we donate goes to those who need it.
Locally, we love to volunteer with
The C.A.R.E. Center (click on name for link) and their various community programs, including my favorite back pack program Bags of Blessings or B.O.B. for short. :-)
Thanks for letting me share about my favorite non-profits! I'm loving reading about all of yours too! Love all of these organizations that are spreading the Light!
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God........In Him was Life and that Life was the Light of all mankind. The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:1,4-5
1 comments:
So glad to "meet" you! Funny to meet up on Kelly's blog when we live so close! Have a great weekend!
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